Prague
by UglyBigTruthers
Summary: This is a story about reunion, separation, and reuniting again. It's about how life throws out 180s, and only on occasion does it come full circle. It's a story about emotions: sadness, heartbreak, regret, happiness, bliss, everything in between. It's also about Dacey! (Obvi). Very much inspired by the singer Damien Rice and all of his works.
1. Cheers, Darlin'

Prague

 _ **Super sappy 1 shot I did based on the song "Prague" by Damien Rice. My first Dacey fic! Lol. :P**_

The pale sky was a bitter blue and the sun shone no more. It was autumn when everything began to fall.

Danny begrudgingly forced his body out of the bed in spite of himself. He could hardly stand or so much as think straight. His head throbbed so viciously, but that pain seemed to pale in comparison to the jolting anesthetic of his heart. He stumbled out of bed, kicking over bottles of vodka that he'd enjoyed the night before, and the night before that, as he did every night since _that_ night. The night that changed everything.

Unsteadily, he made his way to the bathroom where he splashed his face with cold water hoping to revive himself, to awaken his soul, but it seemed there was no use. That same cynical expression refused to be cleansed.

He stared blankly ahead, his eyes simply dead – a reflection of the way he was feeling inside.

…

It was a quarter till 1 when they met again. And it was a peculiar thing to see her after all those years, but what was even more peculiar was that they'd allow so many years to pile up since the last time they met.

"Lacey? _Lacey Porter?"_ Danny called out from across the parking lot outside of the Greengrove Mall.

"Danny?" The caramel-skinned beauty squinted to assure that her eyes had not deceived her. "My goodness, it's been years!"

"Come 'ere," he pulled her into him, taking in the familiar scent of her cherry blossom shampoo. "How have you been? How is medical school?"

"Med school has been incredible – difficult, but I manage." She smiled.

"You always do," he responded reassuringly.

"Yeah, I'm preparing to do my residency at UC in San Francisco."

"Wow, California girl. I always figured you'd leave New York, but not for the likes of sandy beaches and bikinis year around," he said jokingly.

Lacey grinned, shifting on her feet slightly. "No, I uh. I'm actually moving there to be with—"

"Hold that thought!" He pressed his finger to her lips. "You'll never guess what I just got." He fumbled for his keys, unlocked his car door and pulled out a tin pan wrapped in foil.

Lacey stood there a bit confused. "Do you want me to…"

"Yes, open it! Take a whiff." He nudged her with anxious anticipation as she unwrapped the foil to reveal a warm Dutch apple pie that was still fresh from the oven.

"Oh my gosh, is that—"

"Johnny Cakes' specialty, compliments of the chef."

"Are you _serious_? I thought that place closed down years ago?"

"Well it did, but old man Johnny's still around. I refused to go another Thanksgiving without one of these bad boys, so I found his number and literally begged like you have never seen a grown man beg before."

They laughed together.

"Mmm, it smells so good," Lacey bit down on her lip.

Danny couldn't take his eyes off of her. He glanced at her face which was still young but a bit more mature. She had her hair cut into a curly long bob that almost brushed against her shoulder, but not quite. He could see a glance of her neck beneath her cream-colored scarf and he imagined tracing his finger along her collar bone like he used to. He tried not to linger on those plump lips that once gave him his first kiss.

 _God, I've missed you,_ he wanted to say, but he figured he settled something more subtle. "I got a few pies to take over to my mom's house for dinner tomorrow, but I honestly I thought I'd steal a few bites. If you'd like you could come over. We'll catch up."

"I don't know, I'm supposed to do some early Christmas shopping with Clara," she looked into his deep brown which made her weak, the way it did when they were teenagers. "But for _you_ , one of my oldest friends, I'm sure she'd be willing to hold off."

…

 _Fuck_ , Danny looked at the time. It was 12:30. He was supposed to have left an hour ago. Right on cue, he heard a monstrous banging on the door. He already knew who it was, and considered ignoring it altogether, but he knew she wouldn't go away.

"Danny, open this damn door. I know you're in there!" Jo continued knocking impatiently.

He stumbled his way to the door which he opened with an unpleasant "WHAT."

"Danny, why are you not dressed. I've been calling for the last 30 minutes."

"I'm"—he struggled to form words—"not going," he held up his finger. "I'm not gonna go okay. I wasn't even invited" he said bitterly and tried to shut the door in her face.

Jo proceeded anyway. "Danny, come on. Don't be like that. You _were_ invited."

"Yeah, _after_ the fact. It was a big fucking surprise for me and no one, not even you, who knew about it the whole time, clued me in on this shit."

"I figured she'd already told you."

"Really?" He looked at her blandly, clearly unconvinced.

"Okay, I thought she may have told you but if she hadn't I didn't want to make things weird."

"A head's up would have been nice before I made a complete fool of myself."

"No one thinks that," Jo pleaded with him. "Danny she's one of your oldest friends."

"Ha," Danny dropped his head, "Lacey and I were never really friends."

…

"Remember when you first came back from juvie? The entire school was tense, forebodingly awaiting your arrival and you just walk up to me and Jo casually like 'boo.'" Lacey fell into hysterics "I would have never admitted it to you then because I was so mad at you, but that was actually really funny."

"What I was just lightening the mood? Everyone swore I was Jeffrey Dahmer fresh out of the chopper and ready to slash some bodies."

Lacey cracked a smile. "Is it morbid that we can laugh about this?"

"I think the only appropriate response is to laugh about it, otherwise it becomes too difficult."

"Emotions, gross," she cringed playfully.

Danny smiled softly, his gazed fixed on hers.

Lacey squirmed in her seat uncomfortably. "You haven't changed a bit. Still rocking those long luscious locks," she ran her fingers though his hair with unintentional flirtation. "How does that hold up in the office?"

"If you don't think that the man bun can be professional, then check out Jared Leto at the Oscars. It works for me, okay?" He said with playful aggravation.

"Okay, relax. I would never diss the man bun. You've got my vote." She giggled like a school girl.

Danny watched as her dimples became pronounced. "I miss that little laugh of yours." He looked up at her shyly and then turned away.

"Danny, there's something I need to tell you," she fingered the ring in her pocket. "I'm getting—"

"More wine?" He quickly changed the subject.

…

"Seriously, Danny _more_ alcohol? Your house reeked of vodka before you even opened the door."

"I like ethanol, so judge me," his response was non-chalant.

"Look, I know you guys had a thing in high school, but I thought that you'd at least pretend to be happy for Lacey. I mean, she's getting married! This is biggest day of her life."

Danny stood shaking his head. "It was not a ' _thing'_ we had in high school, Jo. I loved her!" He protested. " _Love_ her."

"Danny," Jo felt badly for him, but was unsure of what to say to console her friend.

He wandered over to the kitchen where he poured himself a small glass of liquor to help counteract the effects of the hangover.

"The night before Thanksgiving, Lacey and I were just talking and I thought I'd let go of her years ago. But I don't know, feelings started to resurface, and I… _we_ couldn't control ourselves."

…

"What's one thing that you've never told me that you wish you had?" Lacey sat not far from him on the sofa. She'd had about as much to drink as he and was one of those people who likes get emotionally raw when she's drunk.

Danny hesitated. He didn't want to reveal too much, but his tongue had no filter. "That I waited for you although you told me not to when you left for college." He avoided making eye contact and instead stared into an empty glass.

"I waited. I didn't want to pressure you, because I knew that you were off making new memories and gaining new experiences. I didn't want to take that from you, Lace. But I sat by the phone hoping that you'd call, text. Hell, I would have even settled for an email. There were so many times when I wanted to march onto NYU's campus and just grab you by the waist and kiss you to remind you that I'd be here when you decided to come home. When you were ready to _build_ a home …with me, but I knew better than to push anything." He looked up at her shyly.

"Danny, I didn't know—"

"Don't worry about it." He tried to shake off how exposed he felt in that moment.

"If I would have known— I thought that you moved on. You were spending so much time with Jo."

"Jo is my best friend. She's always been my best friend, but you? I'm not stupid, clearly you've moved on and I have too…mostly," he lied to himself. "But Lace, you were the love of my life," Danny uttered with such conviction.

"And you were mine," she replied softly and pressed her lips against his.

Danny pulled away just to look at her, to take in the moment he'd been longing for for so long.

Their mouths connected again and he slid his tongue into her mouth as he ran his fingers through her curly black hair. Lacey began to unfasten her blouse for him. She slowly undid the first button which revealed her long neck, and then the second which revealed her cleavage that Danny eyed with a devious smile. He planted quick kisses on her neck and then back to her lips before picking her up off of the couch.

Danny pinned his old flame against the wall licking and sucking on her chest as he proceeded to take off her shirt and and then his.

Lacey slid down the wall as she pulled down his pants. Danny's chest tightened when she cupped his penis with her hand and when he felt her mouth around it, he sighed pleasure and relief.

"We only have tonight, Danny," she muttered breathlessly between kisses. "I mean it, this can only happen this once," she said beneath her breath, and then moaned as he reached inside her panties. Danny didn't hear a word she said, because he was so anxious, so lost in her eyes and between her thighs that he did not want to acknowledge anything else. Danny picked her up and carried her, half naked into his bedroom.

Both of them yearned for the other. He pinned her down, panting and breathing heavy and then traced her body with his tongue. Inch by inch he traveled, savoring every bit of her as he made her way to the garden of Eden to taste her forbidden fruit.

He did not indulge right away. He teased her with kisses along her inner thigh and he sucked on her outer lips, dancing around her clit with his tongue.

Lacey's back arched when his mouth found the right spot, her toes curled as she gripped the sheets. She pleaded.

Danny grinned sheepishly, wiping his mouth as he did. He traced her womanhood with his cock, teasing her mercilessly. "You feel that? Tension, angst, anticipation, insatiable desire. You want me right now, don't you?"

She just looked at him, frustrated and puzzled by the monologue.

"Just tell me you want me. Tell me that you've been waiting for me too."

"Danny…"She trailed off. The moment was gone.

"Lacey, I'm not emotional. You know that. I just, I've been waiting so long for this. So…god-damn long. I just want to know that when we wake up tomorrow morning, you won't call this a mistake." He searched her eyes for solace, but he found none.

Lacey closed her legs and sat up straight.

"Danny, I—" he could tell that she was not prepared to say the things that he needed her to say.

"You have a boyfriend, I know, but we can get passed that. "

"Fiancé," she announced abruptly. "He's my _fiancé_ ," Lacey's voice cracked at the revelation. "I'm so sorry, Danny. I wanted to tell you the moment we met in the parking lot, but I was scared of how you might react. And then I was gonna tell you earlier, but you changed the subject, and the wine. I haven't drunk this much in a while."

"So this …has already been a mistake for you," he trailed off.

"No, I didn't say it was a mistake. I'm just confused."

"Confused," he burst into laughter. "You think I didn't know you were engaged to be married?" He pretended to be non-chalant.

"You—you did?"

"Of course I did! Greengrove is a small town."

"So why didn't you say anything?"

"I brought you here to see how far you would go, to see if you're the same fucking whore that you've always been." He grabbed a pack of cigarettes from his night stand and then lit one.

Lacey furrowed her brows at him. "You're drunk and angry, but don't say things that you don't mean."

"No, I mean every bit of it," he grew louder. "Do you even remember how our relationship started? All those years ago, _you_ cheated on Archie…with me. _You_ kissed _me_. You couldn't resist me, because you've always wanted me even more than I want you."

"You broke up with me, Danny. Don't you forget that," she scurried for her clothes.

"Yeah, and that's why. I knew you'd be screwing around with those rich college guys because you can't control your hormones."

"You know what? I'm not going to sit here and take this."

Lacey stood up, piecing together her outfit.

"Yeah, you're right. I did make a mistake tonight, and it wasn't that I kissed you or almost had sex with you. No, my mistake was allowing you to create doubt in my mind that Aiden is the man I should be marrying in a month."

"What are you talking about?" He snarled.

"We've been engaged for over a year now and only just picked a date. You wanna know why? Because even after all these years, I was still holding out the slightest bit of hope for you and me." Her voice was shaking as if she were on the verge of tears.

"But you're not the person that I thought you were, Danny."

His expression softened when he realized how badly he'd hurt her. "Lacey, come on. I didn't mean it, I was just frustrated."

"Frustrated? Oh you were _frustrated_ so you called me a whore. Well, gee as long as it was only out of frustration, I guess it's okay" she barked sarcastically.

"Lacey," his eyes fell to the ground from remorse. Danny felt that nothing he said would change her current opinion of him, but still he tried. "You don't know how much you mean to me." He placed his hand on her cheek, and his eyes, those sad brown eyes projected the most sincere devastation and pain. Danny pressed his forehead against hers. "Please," he muttered weakly.

"I do know how much I mean to you," Lacey pulled away. "That's the problem."

He frowned at her.

Lacey continued, "I could mean the world to you and that still wouldn't be enough. Danny, as much as you try to hide it. You throw on a suit and play son of the year with your fabulous pies, but beneath it all you are still the same, reckless, self-destructive, and abusive criminal that you always were."

Her words struck him heavily.

"And I don't say that to be rude to you, okay?" Lacey wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him closer to her. "No one has ever loved me the way that you love me. I don't think two people could've been happier than we were." She kissed him on the lips one last time.

"Goodbye, Danny" she said softly as she exited the room and his life, forever. He knew then there was nothing he could do to stop her. Oddly enough, he felt no desire to stop her from leaving. He just let it happen though it tormented him.

…

Danny stared aimlessly into an empty bottle of gin. "Crazy, isn't it? How easy it is to just fall into old patterns. She was right about me," he looked intently into Jo's direction, but not directly at her. "I I haven't changed a bit."

And amid his pondering Danny found himself in a suit, still thoughtless, still numb. Jo was no longer there. In one hand he carried a suitcase in the other, a bouquet of roses. He turned off the light of his apartment in an almost mechanical motion. He glanced around the room, so unfamiliar to him now and prepared himself for a battle-less war. Danny closed the door behind himself, slowly. He gripped the roses in his hand so tight, and then he let them fall at the foot of his door, as he headed off.

I could wait for you  
Like that hole in your boot  
Waiting to be fixed  
I could wait for you  
What good would that do  
But to leave me pricked?

Cheers darlin'  
Here's to you and your lover  
...darling  
I got years...  
Pack my suit in a bag  
Pack myself in a bag  
Pack my suit in a bag  
All dressed up for Prague

Pack my suit in a bag  
All dressed up for  
All dressed up for  
All dressed up for


	2. It Takes a lot to Know a Man

**10 years later**

They say that time heals all wounds. This, I can attest to. I didn't go to the wedding. I flew off to Los Vegas where I cradled my wounds with a bottle of gin and few bad decisions. The women, the music, the dimly lit clubs with strobe lights that illuminated my weary soul. I fucked shit up when I was 23, had the time of my life. Everything was pleasure. If it did not bring a wise smile to my face, then it did not exist in my world. _She_ no longer existed in my world, so I was free to be the savage beast that she tried to calm with the caress of her voice and that soft…soft touch. I only matured after I felt something softer, the sweet little hands of someone who looked just like me. He became my world, even after his mother left us. He is the sole motivation for my personal development and growth.

The sun kissed the sky on a sweltering afternoon in California. Danny was on an extended vacation there with his son. The gentle acoustics of the ocean was disrupted by a disgruntled exchange.

"Nathanial," Danny grumbled as he chased the 9 year old along the beach. "Nate, come on!" He was panting and half out of breath. "When I say it's time to go, it's time to go!"

"You have to catch me first!" The child looked over his shoulder at his struggling father and giggled. This gesture caused him to unknowingly crash into a little girl's sand castle. He stopped when he realized this.

The girl stood there cold-faced, but solemn. Her big brown eyes, though gentle, were fixed on him with the most piercing gaze. Her long, curly brown hair danced in the wind as she stood with her arms fastened across her chest.

"Great, look what you just did." She was eerily calm. Her friends, who were sitting nearby stood up to defender her.

"You have to help her fix it," A blonde-haired girl said snappily.

"Yeah, that isn't nice!" A skinny red-head tried to sound tough.

Nate shifted on his feet nervously. He focused his attention on the girl with almond skin, whose castle he had just destroyed. "I can fix it!" He grabbed a bucket and shovel and threw some sand in it and then flipped the bucket over to create a tower that quickly crumbled.

The girl uncrossed her arms and chuckled. "You have to wet the sand a little so that it sticks." She kneeled down beside him and helped him to gather another round into the bucket.

He shuddered when her hand and brushed past his.

"I'm Laini, by the way," she offered a smile

"N-Nate," he pulled his hair back casually into a low ponytail. Then he grabbed the bucket and sprinkled a bit of water onto the sand and compacted it together. This time, when he flipped over the bucket, the sand held the form.

"Ooh, Laini, his castle is even better than yours!" One of the girls perked up.

"It's not a competition, Alice," Laini grew irritated by the defeat.

"Well if it was, I would win," Nate said tauntingly.

"Please, you didn't even know how to build a sand-castle until like 30 seconds ago."

"Yeah, but it only took me 30 seconds to learn how to make one and I still did it better than you when you already knew how to do it!"

Laini grew defensive, "You don't know how good my sand castle was because you just came over here and ruined it!"

"I did that sand castle a favor. It was a disaster when you made," he teased her.

Laini frowned and did the unthinkable: she stomped Nate's freshly done sand castle and then grabbed a fist full of sand which she threw at him yelling as she did. "Ugh, you're such a cocky little brat. Evolve!"

Nate started to head off, laughing as she chased him with more sand. "Haters" he called back when he realized she was no longer following him. He ran right into his father.

"I told you, I'm no chasing after you anymore. Next time, I'll leave you here to get eaten by the sharks," Danny remarked in a tone that was supposed to seem serious.

"You can't scare me anymore dad. I've evolved." He said with adult-like sophistication.

"You've _evolved?"_ Danny chuckled at his son's choice in words. "Great, next I need you to evolve into someone who does their chores when they're supposed to. Evolve into a young man who listens for once instead of being hard-headed all the time." He nudged his son as they prepared to leave the beach.

"Oh, wait, Dad! Can I use your cell phone real quick?"

"Um, no sir. You're not doing games right now. We still have to pack the bags. I'd like to stop back at the hotel before we—"

Nathanial snatched his father's phone out of his pocket and took off again.

Danny stopped in his tracks. He looked toward the sky. "Is this my punishment for all those years of being rebellious?" He just shook his head.

The girls were still talking about him when he went back over there. They were packing their things as well.

"Hey," Nate approached the girl with the wavy brown hair. She looked at him, clearly unamused. "I thought maybe you could put your number in my phone."

"That's _your_ phone?" He handed her a brand new iphone 7, which she marveled at for a moment before saying, "Sorry, I'm not allowed to give out my number to strangers."

"But you can give her yours!" The girl with blonde hair chimed in. She reached into Laini's bag and pulled out a cell phone.

"Anna, that's my mom's phone," Laini whispered to her friend, but she didn't listen.

"Here ya go."

Nate looked to Laini for permission to proceed. When she shrugged, he put his dad's number in the phone.

"Now, you are going to call me, right? You're not just gonna leave me hanging here."

"I might if I get bored enough," she shrugged.

Nathanial chuckled and rolled his eyes. "Okay," he tried to suppress his smile. "Goodbye Laini." He said on his way off.

"Bye," she waved slowly.

The tender moment was interrupted by a woman's voice. "Who are you waving at, little bit?"

"I'm not little anymore, mom," she grumbled, "I'm almost 10 years old."

"Almost 10? Sweetie, you just turned 9 a couple—You're right. You're a growing girl. I'm gonna have to stop babying you." She kissed her daughter on the forehead lightly and then looked up to notice the supposed babysitter napping in the sun.

"Really, Regina? You're supposed to be watching the kids not sun bathing." She threw a beach ball at her childhood friend. The girls giggled.

"What? Huh? Lacey! What are you doing here?"

"What are you doing asleep, Regina? Anything could have happened." She kept her voice down.

"It's fine. They're fine. I only dozed off for a few seconds….or minutes. They were just goofing off with some boy they met."

"A boy?" Lacey nudged her daughter.

"Just a friend, mom. Not even that. Just some jerk who's trying to ruin my life."

"Good, honey all boys are jerks who will try to ruin your life," Regina assured her, "just ask your mom." This, she said beneath her breath.

"Oh, right. Sweetie, I need my phone back."

"Daddy called," Laini added meekly. "I ignored it just like you said."

Lacey shifted uncomfortably. She looked around hoping that none of the girls heard that. "Thanks, hon."

Laini handed her mom the phone.

"Go on, put your sundress on. It's time to go."

Lacey smoothed a piece of hair behind her ears. At a distance she could see two figures walking side by side, spitting images of one another, a father and son. She could not distinguish those figures because their backs were turned toward her, and yet she stared aimlessly in that direction for no reason at all: pondering, wondering.

 **A/N: Okay, I know this is not the story you guys were probably expecting/ hoping for, but how do you feel about this little branch off about Lacey and Danny's kids? Let me know in the reviews if it's worth continuing.**


End file.
